Lamp-burner.



Patented July 3|. I900.

w. HARRIS.

LAMP BURNER.

(Application filed Nov. 18,1899.)

(No Model.)

INVENTOI? WITNESSES: I WL'ZZL'aIIv flzzrrc'a.

A7TOHNEYS Mrs STATES;

PATENT Eric.

WILLIAM HARRIS, on MOUND BAYOU, nrssissrrrr, ASSIGNOR on ONE- HALF TO ISAIAH T. MONTGOMERY, or SAME PLACE.

LAM P-BURNER.

, srmmxrmn forming part of Letters Patent a 655,077, dated July 31, 1900. Application filed November 18, 1899. Serial No. 737,488. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAMHARRIS, of Mound Bayou, in the county of Bolivar and:

State of Mississippi, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Lamp Burners, of which the following is a specification.

Myinvention is in the nature of an improvement in lamp-burners designed for the use of railroads, signal-switches, and cars which require to be kept lighted for a long period, and which improvement is designed to limit the amount of oil fed by capillary attraction through the wick, so as to save oil and make it last longer and also to give without a chimney a clear flame free from smoke. The improvement also is designed to prevent the jarring of the wick down, and in which respect my device finds a useful application for bicycle-lamps and other analogous uses. g

It consists in the special construction and arrangement of parts of; the burner. as will permit of a regulated pressure on gyvick without interfering with its feed'andm'eans for limiting and indicating the adjustment, as hereinafter fully described with reference to the drawings, in which- Figure l is a vertical longitudinal section.

Fig. 2 is a side view. Fig. 3 is a cross-sectio-igigi' on line 3 3. Fig. 4: is a side View showing'a modification.

In the drawings, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, A represents the burner-body, whose lower portion is screw-threaded to fit detachably into the font.

'In the burner-body is fixed the round wicktube a,in the'side of which is formeda vertical slot, through which protrudes into range of engagement with the wick the ratchet-wheel b, fixed on a shaft 12, carrying on its outer end a milled head 6 This shaft b is journaled in the burner-body in the usual way and furnishes thewell-known means for raisin g and lowering the wick.

At a point above the wick-feeding devices there is soldered or otherwise attached a laterally-projecting sleeve 0, having its interior providedwithscrew'threads,furnishingalong screw-nut, with which engages a screw-stem cl, bearing on its outer end a milled head 01, by which the screw-point can be advanced into or withdrawn from the wick-tube. In, the interior space of the wick-tube there is arranged a little strip of metal e, extending Vertically between the inner wall of the wicktube and the wick w and bearing directly against the latter at a point in front of the adjusting screw (1. This strip is slightly curved in cross-section to correspond to the curved surface of the wick, and said strip is immovably fixed in said tube by having its lower end riveted or soldered at e to the bottom of the burner-body. With this construction when the screw (1 is turned up it presses against the strip e and forces it against the wick to compress the interstices of the wick, so that its capillary action is retarded and onlya limited and predetermined amount of oilis allowed to reach the burning end of the wick. By this adjustment so great an economy of oil is obtained that the lamp-supplylasts three or four times longer than when burning with a full and uninterrupted oilfeed through the wick. The great advantage of this is readily understood by railroad men, and it,not only economizes oil and prolongs the burning period of the lamp; but it also givesaclear white light without the use of a chimney free from smoke and lampblack.

At the point on the pressure-strip where the screw bears against it there may be attached a small cross-piece or reenforced bearing to take the strain of the screw. The sleeve-nut is also preferably formed on an external tube tor band encompassing the inner wick-tube, which external tube or band carries the strain of the set-screw.

Now I am aware that a device for choking the feed of oil in a wick has heretofore been devised in which a transverse sliding blade compressed the wick from the action of a setscrew; but the pressure on the wick was established and localized in a narrow transverse line, which so indented the wick as to rnake it difficult to regulate and also made perma nent transverse creases in the wick, which distorted the wick permanently and interfered with the symmetry of the flame. Furthermore, it was with such construction necessary to draw back the compressing-blade to an extreme range before the wick could be raised or lowered, and, besides, the device could not be applied conveniently to burners already in use. With my longitudinally-arranged strip flame which will sufficiently economize oil withoutgoing outand means also to prevent the full power'of the compressing-screw from being exerted onthe wick beyond a certain cations.

point. ing-screw may have a stop-shoulder (1 that strikes against the outer end of the sleevenut when the maximum adjustment is given,

and thus prevent in the haste of trimming many lamps the extreme adjustment that would allow the lamp to go out after lighting orprevent it from feeding, a matter of the greatest importance in railroad-signal appli- Furthermore, the advance movement of the screw may be indicated to represent any desired number of hours of burning. Thus, for instance, a pointer 11 may be made to register with a set of external graduations on the sleeve-nut, or the screw-rod may have an {external tube or sleeve f, (see Fig. 4,) that envelops the sleeve-nut telescopically and indicates by covering the said graduations the extent of the compression hours the lampmay burn.

use.

erable longitudinal section of the wick in such a manner as to avoid'kinking the wick and without affecting its flexibility or the' For the latter purpose the compress and the number of 1 described.

A great advantage of my invention is its 1 applicability to-any kind of lamps already in Furthermore, the pressure of thead- 1I justing devices is distributed over a considanykind of a lamp and to wick-tubes that are flat as well as round. For maintaining a regular and prolonged heat it finds a useful application in lamps for heating incubators and similar uses. 1

' Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A lamp-burner having a longitudinallyarranged bearing-strip within the wick-tube and held fixedlyagainst upward longitudinal movement; in combination with a set-screw tapped through the side of the wick-tube and bearing against said strip substantially as and for the'purpose described.

2. A lamp-burner having a longitudinally arranged bearing-strip within thewick-tube held fixedly against upward longitudinal movement; in combination with an elongated sleeve-nut fixed in the side of the tube, and

a set-screw tapped in said sleeve-n ut and bearing against the pressure-stri p substantially as and for the purpose described.

i 3. The combination of a lamp -burner, a pressure-bearing for the wick, and a set-screw acting upon the pressure-bearing and having a stop to limitthe extreme movement of the screw and prevent putting outthe lamp as 4. The combination of a lamp-burner, a pressure-bearing for the wick, and a set-screw acting upon the pressure-bearing and having a series of graduations and an indicator for showing the amount of pressure on'the wick and its relation to the oil consumption substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

. I WILLIAM HARRIS.

Witnesses:

WM. BROWNLEE, A. L. WEBSTER. 

